She lived for art
and died for love.

Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 8 PM
Tuesday, November 23 at 7 PM
Friday, November 26 at 8 PM

Sung in Italian with projected

English translations.

Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Music by Giacomo PucciniLibretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe GiacosaDirected by Valerie KuinkaConducted by Tyrone Paterson

Based on Victorien Sardou’s drama, “La Tosca”

The Story

In Napoleonic Rome of 1800,
Floria Tosca, a celebrated opera singer, seduces all with her voice, but loves only one man, Mario Cavaradossi, a painter. This fills the sinister Baron Scarpia, the Chief of Police, with jealousy.

Cavaradossi is hiding a political fugitive and Tosca is drawn into a web of danger and deceit by Scarpia, who abuses his power
to force the passionate singer to betray her lover’s secret. When Cavaradossi is imprisoned and faces death, Tosca will stop at nothing to save him. She has her revenge on Scarpia, but realizes too late that she has been double-crossed.

See what they're saying about TOSCA

OPERA MATTERS: TOSCA

A look at the background to the opera produced by Manitoba Opera and what was happening in the world and in Winnipeg at the time those operas were first produced.

Why Would the Story of Tosca appeal to Puccini?

Giacomo Puccini, born in 1858, grew up with the newly united Italy. However, by the end of the 19th Century, the initial hopes of a new type of country and a new nationality had been tempered by the indolence of the Italian monarchy, continued political influence of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the corruption, cynicism and inefficiency of the Italian Parliament. There was an almost instinctive wistfulness for the republican promise of the Napoleonic era. The rather crude play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou would have appealed to Puccini as it described the promise of a sectarian republic, based upon the revolutionary principles of liberté, égalité et fraternité.

Tickets: $100 per person

Production Librettos for Purchase

Overture Opera Guides for Tosca and The Magic Flute, published in association with the English National Opera are available for sale. Guides include the complete libretto in the original language and the English translation, a thematic analysis, illustrations and photographs, and a bibliography and discography. Widely regarded as the best series of their kind.

Cost: $22.50 each including GST

Call Livia at 944-8929 to order your copies.

CDs to Borrow or Purchase

Full-length operas ($29.10) and highlight ($11.20) CDs of both Tosca and The Magic Flute are available for purchase or to borrow for a two-week period.

Call Livia at 944-8929 for more information.

The Artists

SCARPIAGaétan Laperrière“ … just the right darkness and weight on the one hand and expressive flexibility on the other.” – Ottawa Citizen

CAVARADOSSIRichard Margison“ … a voice with body, strong and powerful, but also rich with expression.”– Winnipeg Free Press